


A Little Death

by larutanrepus (jumpernouis)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Knitting, Lucifer is lonely, Reader-Insert, She/her pronouns, Slow Burn, Small Towns, Strangers to Lovers, Witch Curses, a little bit sentimental sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 11:54:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29998953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpernouis/pseuds/larutanrepus
Summary: “‘Who put you here?’‘Doesn’t matter.’‘Why did they put you here?’She hesitated, before telling the truth, ‘Because of a curse.’His face changed as he grew interested. ‘Is that why you don’t have your Grace? Did they take it?’‘No,’ she said simply, ‘I still have it.’‘To sum it up,’ his eyes were back on hers, ‘You were cursed and that curse somehow keeps you from being a full blown angel, that’s why you have to pass as a human in this hut away from everyone’s sight.’There was a moment of silence between them where Lucifer’s words seemed to hang in the air. He came as close to the gate as he could without getting hurt and said, ‘Let me help you.’”Or the one where Lucifer is lonely and decides to help an angel currently living as a human.
Relationships: Lucifer (Supernatural)/You, Lucifer/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 3





	A Little Death

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a song from The Neighborhood and it also served as inspiration for this work. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd, but I always try to review every chapter to make sure that no typos are left behind.  
> Enjoy!

It was cloudy outside the little stone cottage overlooking the sea. It had rained all night, but the rain had given way to the very shy sunrays that seeped through the grey clouds. Inside, the little cottage was warm because of the fire burning in the fireplace next to which a girl sat in a worn-out armed chair. On a little basket next to her, were a couple balls of yarn from where a string floated every time she pulled on it. Knitting had become one of her pastimes and she loved nothing more than to transform a simple ball of yarn into something she could wear. The whistling of the kettle she had on the stove made her put down her work to go prepare a warm cup of tea.

It wasn’t a bad life, at all. This little house had everything she needed, including a tiny garden in the back where she grew ingredients to eat and a stunning view of the ocean, her immense neighbour. She was alone most of the time and the only people she talked to were the sweet elders that lived in the small village and that she used to see when she ventured closer to the centre where most houses stood glued to each other. It was more than enough company for her. The warding around her fenced garden protected her from every unwanted visitors and repelled the humans from wandering towards that end of the land.

Right as she strained the tea leaves out of her mug, she felt something unusual. The little vial pending from the necklace she wore under her sweater seemed to jump on its own which meant the warding had detected an intruder. Her heart did a summersault when she realized that it could mean Michael was finally paying her a visit, but she was positively surprised when she peeked through the window and saw someone else standing just outside her gate. She didn’t know who he was, but if he was there, he probably wasn’t human. She had a feeling he had seen her and quickly moved away from the window, cursing herself for not being more careful. It seemed stupid not to go outside now that he knew she was in there.

Grasping her necklace through her sweater, she stepped outside, trying to look as casual as possible. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked from the doorstep.

The man looked directly into her eyes and she felt goosebumps on the back of her neck. ‘Who are you?’

‘You come to my house and ask me who I am?’ she tried to chuckle but couldn’t.

‘I felt a lot of energy coming from this place and had to come take a look,’ he explained, ‘But you’re not…’

She felt compelled to move closer to the stranger but decided against it. Maybe it had been a mistake to step outside and reveal herself and now it was too late to turn back. She was positive that this man wasn’t human, and she didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. ‘I don’t know what you’re-…’

‘Yes, you know,’ he urged, placing his hands on top of the gate and quickly regretting it when the warding reacted. ‘This whole place is protected to the teeth and _you_ … I don’t know what you are, but you’re something.’

So, he knew about all that, but that didn’t mean she had to tell him anything else. She just had to make him go away. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business, so, if you won’t mind, I’ll go back inside.’

‘I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s up,’ he warned as he tried to lean against the stone pilar but couldn’t.

‘Why does it matter?’ she asked furrowing her brows.

He seemed to stop and think for a second, like he hadn’t thought about that before coming here. ‘Does it have to matter? It’s sketchy! This house in the middle of nowhere and protected with complicated spells and then you come out and I can’t tell what you are.’

Who did this guy think he was? She decided to step closer, closing the door behind her and walking the path between the doorstep and the gate. ‘Look,’ she whispered, trying to appear as a threat to him, ‘I don’t know who you are or what you want, but you’re wasting your time here. I suggest you leave and never return to this place.’

He looked at her in amusement, not even phased by what she said. ‘You just spiked my curiosity. Come on! There’s noting wrong with telling me who you are, I promise I’ll leave after you tell me,’ he pretended to swear on it, but didn’t seem legit about it. ‘I guess it’s fair that I go first. I’m actually surprised you didn’t immediately recognize me and started running in fear at the mere sight of me,’ he laughed as if it was the funniest thing on Earth, ‘I’m Lucifer.’

She raised her eyebrows imperceptibly as she tried to keep a normal expression. She had heard about Lucifer – everyone had – but she had never actually seen him. ‘I’m Aphrael,’ she revealed, looking consciously at her surroundings, glad that he was on the other side of the gate.

His gaze trailed down from her eyes to the top of her sweater where her necklace rested, hidden from everyone’s eyes. She had a feeling he could see what was there and that left her very nervous. ‘Angel?’ he simply asked, looking back into her eyes.

‘Yes,’ she let out, ‘Now, if you don’t mind…’, she gestured towards the road behind him, letting him know that it was time to go.

Lucifer looked at where she pointed and smirked to himself. Aphrael turned on her heels and headed back inside, not daring to look back to see if he was gone until she had reached the comfort of her warm living room. She peeked through the window, careful not to show herself, and there was no one standing behind the gate or in the proximities of the house. She let out a sigh of relief that was very short-lived. Lucifer himself, the fallen angel, discovered her hiding spot and didn’t leave until she told him who she was. Worried, she returned to the kitchen to pick up her now lukewarm tea.

There was no way of him knowing who she was or her story. Right?

‘I’m sure he has a lot more on his plate than to worry about me,’ she said to herself. The words sounded strange in the empty house, but it was enough to calm her heartbeat down. For good measure, she decided not to leave the house for a good couple of weeks. At least until she made sure that Lucifer wouldn’t come back.

****

Three days in her confinement and Aphrael couldn’t take it anymore. She had to go outside to tend to her garden and to collect ingredients for her meals. The pile of wood in the box next to the fireplace was nearly empty, but she didn’t feel comfortable with stepping past the walls in her garden to gather more firewood. Being in the back garden made her instantly happy. The cold air coming from the ocean invaded her and it was almost like being born again, after experiencing nothing but the stuffy air inside her house, caused by the constant fire burning on the fireplace.

She knew her house was a safe space, but she didn’t know how powerful Lucifer was or if he could break through the protection around the cottage and that was the worst part in all of this. Aphrael wasn’t sure whether she should tell Michael about this visit or not. Certainly, he would’ve known if his brother was back on the action. _But why would he_ _remember to make sure I was alright?_ Because he said so. _Yeah, but the last time you saw him he said he was going to help you and here we are_. The battle in her thoughts made her realize that it had been several years since she last saw Michael. It was a realization that didn’t ease her mind at all.

Aphrael hurried to finish her work in the garden, filled a basket with food supplies and went back inside. As she set the basket on top of the small kitchen table, she thought about talking to Michael. Maybe if she summoned him… But she didn’t have the ingredients required for the spell. She could try to talk to him through the angel radio, but not only would it give away her location as it could be overheard by unwanted guests. Lucifer himself could probably hear it.

She went back to the living room window to peek outside. It seemed like that was all she did now. The street was the same as it had always been. Not one single soul in sight.

‘Alright, Aphra, you’re being a little paranoid,’ she told herself. She couldn’t live under these conditions for much longer. She had to go to the village centre to sell the sweaters she knitted and to talk to the elderly who she had grown fond of. Just because someone found where she was living, it didn’t mean she was in danger. After all, she had done nothing to Lucifer that would justify any ill behaviour from his end. If he happened to show up again, she would handle the situation carefully. Although, the more she thought about it, the more convinced she seemed that he wouldn’t come back. _Why would he?_

****

Saturday came and Aphrael had been awake since 5am to finish a project to take to the village fair. She had breakfast, got dressed and packed every single finished piece she had knitted in a bag, peeked out the window for the hundredth time before inhaling deeply and opening the front door. It was very anticlimactic how everything outside remained the same as it had been before she stepped out. The real challenge was to pass beyond the wooden gate that separated her from the normal world – if anyone could see her now, they would think there was something wrong with her as she tried to slowly step onto the paved road. Once fully outside, Aphrael did a quick check of her surroundings, but nothing jumped at her attention.

Her free hand grasped the necklace tucked away under her clothes, concealing the vial that stored her Grace, and she started walking towards the market at the bottom of the hill where her humble cottage stood.

After settling on one of the stands at the market, Aphrael sat on a chair behind her display of sweaters and other knitted products, waiting for the young tourists that always loved her creations. She thought about how nice it felt to be outside and in the company of the other villagers. She almost forgot about what made her afraid of leaving the house, because clearly there was nothing to fear.

Lucifer found her, saw that there wasn’t much to her and left. That’s it, simple.

A few stands away stood one of the ladies that always had a kind word to say to her. She sold homemade jams from fruit she grew in her backyard, despite her being deep in her 70s. Aphrael had tried her jams before and found them delicious, so it was no surprise to see that her stand had a constant flow of costumers. Right now, she was chatting up a client, inciting him to try a sample of her blueberry jam. Aphrael smiled and stood up when a young lady seemed to take a special interest in one of her sweaters. As she spoke to the lady, her eyes kept drifting towards the jam stand where Mabel, the owner, was now laughing at something the stranger probably said. Why did she keep looking over at the stand instead of focusing on selling the sweater? Because she had the feeling that the man at the stand was none other than Lucifer. She couldn’t be sure, because his back was turned towards her and without her Grace she couldn’t see past the outside of the man. _It can’t be him_ , she thought, completely ignoring the woman in front of her.

‘Excuse me,’ the woman tried to get her attention.

‘Yes, yes, I’m sorry… I was distracted by something else,’ she apologized, but her eyes focused again on the other stand.

The woman looked back to see what was so interesting. ‘Oh… That man in that stand over there?’

‘What?’ Aphrael was caught off guard, ‘Do you know him?’

‘No,’ she replied, still turned to watch the man who was exploring other stands, ‘But we arrived on the same cruise. I can try to find him there and give him your number.’

‘On a cruise?’ Aphrael was relieved to hear that, ‘No! I don’t want you to give him my number. He just looked familiar, that’s all.’

‘Him? I look nothing like him,’ Lucifer’s voice sounded right next to her and Aphrael froze in surprise. The client, who apparently didn’t even notice that Lucifer appeared out of thin air, agreed with him, saying that the two men didn’t have much in common in terms of appearance. Slowly, Aphrael turned to look at the archangel, receiving a knowing smile from him as he busied himself accepting the woman’s payment for the sweater.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘Helping you,’ he said simply, placing the money in her bag, ‘You almost lost that sale.’

She blinked in disbelief. ‘No, this isn’t possible.’

‘I know, I wasn’t planning on showing up either,’ he admitted, looking around at the other stands. ‘But it seemed like this was the only opportunity I had to talk to you without that invisible wall.’

‘Talk to me? What could you possibly want to talk to me about?’ she tried to maintain her calm look to not spook the people at the fair and to not give away the fact that _Lucifer himself_ was right next to her.

‘We have a lot to talk,’ he said with a cold smile.

‘I don’t think so,’ she moved to fix some of the sweaters in front of her to mask her trembling hands.

‘So, you want me to believe that there’s nothing wrong with an angel who lives in the middle of nowhere in a house far away from everything and that’s protected against seemingly anything?’ he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, ‘Not to forget, the funniest thing in all of this, your Grace.’

‘Why do you care?’ she turned to him.

‘I’m a curious guy.’

Aphrael squinted her eyes, deciding to pack up everything and leave the marketplace earlier so she could get to her house and get rid of Lucifer. Maybe there she could figure out a solution to get out of this or call for someone’s help. She started gathering the sweaters and placing them in her bag.

‘Oh, okay,’ he chuckled, ‘I see you’re running away again. How long will it take you to step outside this time?’

She looked up. Her eyes were wide open as she realized that he had been there watching her this whole time. ‘That’s stalking. You have nothing to do with my life,’ she closed the bag and walked around the stand, ‘Just leave me alone.’

‘I can’t,’ he said in amusement, jogging to catch up with her. ‘You’re too interesting for me to leave you alone.’

‘Look, you’re wrong. There’s nothing interesting about me,’ she hoped he couldn’t hear the hint of panic in her voice, ‘You’re basically wasting your time with me.’

‘Well…’ he murmured from a few steps behind her, ‘I don’t have a whole lot going on, right now.’

She ignored him for a second before thinking that maybe it was better to keep him talking at least until she reached the safety of her garden. ‘I’m sure anything’s better than to chase after me.’

To her surprise he didn’t reply. She almost turned around to see his expression but fought that instinct and sped up her pace. ‘What made you choose this place?’ he changed the subject as they neared the small cottage.

With a hand on her gate, Aphrael looked at him and something seemed different. ‘I didn’t choose it. Someone else did.’

‘Is there someone else in there with you?’

Without even thinking, she shook her head. Aphrael shut her eyes tightly, cursing herself for making that mistake.

‘So, someone chose this place for you, decked it out with wards and left, is that it?’ Lucifer took two steps in her direction, but to both their astonishment, she didn’t flinch. Her lack of response confirmed what he said. ‘Someone’s trying to conceal you.’

‘I think we’re done here,’ she finally snapped out of her trance and moved to open the gate.

‘Come on, you know I’m not going anywhere.’

Aphrael rubbed her temple, ‘Why the hell not? If you want anything from me, just say it,’ she paused, ‘If not, just go ahead and kill me.’

‘Who said anything about killing?’ Lucifer’s expression remained blank and Aphrael was suddenly very aware that she was only halfway through her gate.

‘It’s what you do, isn’t it?’ she spoke in a hushed voice, like the words were caught in her throat.

His cold laugh sounded in the empty road. ‘I see my reputation precedes me. If I wanted to kill you, I could do it right now. I could’ve done it down at the market. Yet, here you are. Still alive and breathing.’

What he was saying was true and it did ease up Aphrael’s mind a little bit, but it didn’t help clear up the reason behind Lucifer’s interest. She closed the gate and set the bag down on the grass. If she had to answer his questions to make him go away, she would rather do it from the comfort of her home. ‘Then what is it that you want?’

‘Who put you here?’

‘Doesn’t matter.’

‘Why did they put you here?’

She hesitated, before telling the truth, ‘Because of a curse.’

His face changed as he grew interested. ‘Is that why you don’t have your Grace? Did they take it?’

‘No,’ she said simply, ‘I still have it.’

Lucifer’s eyes were fixed on a spot where she knew her necklace was. Did he know that she kept her Grace hidden in that vial? If he did, he didn’t indicate it. ‘To sum it up,’ his eyes were back on hers, ‘You were cursed and that curse somehow keeps you from being a full blown angel, that’s why you have to pass as a human in this hut away from everyone’s sight.’

There was a moment of silence between them where Lucifer’s words seemed to hang in the air. He came as close to the gate as he could without getting hurt and said, ‘Let me help you.’

‘Help me?’ Aphrael couldn’t help laughing at the mere thought of Lucifer offering to help her. ‘I don’t need your help, I have Mi-…’, she stopped herself before revealing the full story.

Much to her misery, Lucifer wasn’t dumb and caught on easily. ‘You have what? Oh, Michael? Is that who?’

‘I have to go,’ she turned to walk the distance between the gate and the front door.

‘If you’re waiting on Michael, that ship has sailed a long time ago,’ he called out after her and she stopped on her tracks. ‘When was the last time you saw him?’

She sighed deeply, finally understanding why Michael had been gone for so long. ‘What happened to him?’

‘Let’s just say that it will be a very, very long time before we see good ol’ Michael again.’

She didn’t know what to do. Somehow, she believed that Lucifer was telling the truth, which meant she was on her own with no one to help her fight this curse. What if she didn’t want to fight it? Things had been going great up until the moment Lucifer showed up. That was the only time anyone found out where she was. During her stay in this town, Aphrael had never had problems with anyone or with anything, so what was the point of fixing what wasn’t broken?

‘I don’t want help.’

‘Really?’ Lucifer instigated, ‘You would rather spend your life living as a human?’

‘It’s not that bad, you know,’ she informed.

‘These wards won’t last forever. Then what?’ he pretended to pick a thread from his shirt but Aphrael could see a hint of a smile on his face.

‘They’ve held up pretty good so far,’ she said in annoyance. Why was she prolonging this conversation instead of just going back to her house? It was almost as if something pinned her down on the spot and she couldn’t convince herself to move.

‘That’s because no one’s ever tried to get past them.’

His insistence was starting to irritate Aphrael. If he kept talking, he might beat her by exhaustion. She mulled it over for a second before turning around and walking back to the gate. The cocky smile on his face almost made her back down, but it was either taking his help or having to deal with his presence every day until he found a way past the gate.

‘What’s the catch?’

‘The catch?’

‘Yes,’ she quickly said, ‘For helping me. What do you expect in return?’

Seeing that expression on somebody else, Aphrael would’ve thought she had hurt them, but seeing it in Lucifer’s eyes left her dazzled. At least she thought she had seen it.

‘I don’t want anything in return.’

‘You’re not going to kill me, but you also don’t want anything in return?’ she laughed, ‘Do you want me to believe you’re doing this from the kindness of your heart?’

‘It’s obviously not that,’ he looked at her, his blue eyes shining in the sun, ‘Everybody knows I’m big, bad Lucifer.’

That sentence sounded deep within Aphrael. She only knew Lucifer by name, like most angels. This was the first experience she had face to face with the archangel and she couldn’t say it had been all that bad. She probably should follow everyone’s advice and steer clear from him, but what else could she do? _He doesn’t seem so bad as everyone says_ , she thought and with irony added, _that’s probably what his victims think before they die._

‘Okay,’ she said cautiously. ‘If I turn up dead or worse, people will come looking for me,’ she warned to no ado, since it only made him laugh.

‘I promise you won’t regret it,’ he said.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are more than welcome! xx


End file.
